Dear Arrow,
I will start by saying that I am not a comic book person. I know nothing about Arrow from the comic books. I know nothing about canon. I know nothing about the way the world is supposed to be. I just know how to be entertained and how to watch what is happening on a television screen.
With Arrow, I just know my love for Oliver Queen and Felicity. I know my love for Diggle and his bluntness. I know my annoyance with Laurel. I know that I think Thea and Roy should be together at all costs. I know the heroes that I love and the characters that I despise.
I know the show that I have watched for 8 seasons and I know what it’s given me. I know the hope, the despair, the happiness and the tears. I know the times that it’s held me up and torn me down.
I think sometimes we get caught up in the way that we think that things should be based off the books that we read. I’m guilty of it. And I will fight to the death for some of the fandoms I love and the reasons that it should have never have deterred from the book.
But this won’t be one of those times. And sure, you can call me a hypocrite over it. I’d deserve it.
Lizzie and Alyssa both had their say about Arrow, but now it’s my turn. They both hated the ending, but I personally loved it. Why? Well, for one big reason.
Now, I will be honest, I see the whole other side. But I am going to ask you to bear with me. I believe that Oliver got his happy ending.
When we started Arrow – I thought that Oliver was a selfish asshole that needed to get his ass kicked. He wasn’t ever thinking about this actions affecting anyone else, he just felt that he had to avenge the people who had destroyed the city. I get it. He was one fucked up individual.
But like all of us people evolve. Oliver evolved. He evolved past the person that had been stranded on an island, watched his father kill himself, and everything in between. Oliver became a man that opened his heart to others, protected his family, and put the good of everyone before his own good.
I get the fact that Oliver didn’t get to watch William or Mia grow up. He wasn’t there for a lot of their firsts, things that happen in life that shaped them, and everything in between. But Oliver did what he did because he would give anything and everything to protect his children and family.
Look, I get it – Supergirl and The Flash are technically not “family.” But if you are going that route, I would challenge you that family is not always defined by blood, but family is chosen. The people that he considered family were worth saving.
The people that were family by blood, were worth saving.
And that saving was everything to him.
Do I believe that Oliver wanted to be there for every moment of all these peoples lives? Yes, of course. But when you think about it what moments would there have been if he hadn’t sacrificed himself to save everyone else?
The truth is – people come and people go. It’s not an easy fact of life, but it is part of life. What makes us all happy is different. And I firmly believe that Oliver’s first happy ending was knowing that his children were going to live and be okay.
And his payoff for that was seeing them when they showed up in the bunker. I will forever be in tears when I think about the way Mia looked up at him and said, “Dad.”
I think when I look back over the years, Oliver wanted nothing more than to be a good man. He wanted to be worthy of someone looking at him with the love that his kids did. They missed their Dad, but I don’t for a second think that he didn’t miss them. He missed them before he had them.
Because he was that person that was meant to be a Dad. He was that person that had unlimited love to give.
But, here’s where I stand on his kids. I don’t think any of us have the right to say much about it – because his kids forgave him. His kids understood what he had to do in order to make sure that they had a future. His kids understood that he gave up a life with them – not because he didn’t love them – but because he’s always loved them enough to know that if giving his life meant them living their life to their fullest potential – he was going to do it.
And that was his first happy ending.
And the second – Felicity.
Now, I know – I know… people will say that he was robbed of a happy ending because they both weren’t alive to watch their children grow old. They weren’t there to watch their children get married. They weren’t there to have grandkids.
But the thing is – sure, that’s not happy. But I think that what we’re missing is that it all of us can have ideas about what a happy ending means to people. But life isn’t always about happy endings.
Sometimes life is about peace. And sometimes finding that peace is a happy ending for that person.
Oliver and Felicity are at peace with each other. They find themselves in each other. I don’t think that Oliver could have done everything he’s done if it weren’t for Felicity.
Breaking her heart killed him – but knowing that she’d find him someday and there would be peace in each other is what kept them both going. Everything came full circle.
Everything started over in a place where they would forever be the best versions of themselves for themselves. For Oliver, bringing her back to the place that he first saw her was what he wanted.
He wanted to see her again where he saw her the first time.
And that isn’t for us to judge, but I will. I will tell you that to me, the way he looked when he saw her was at peace. HE WAS HAPPY. IT WAS HIS HAPPY ENDING.
I believe that there is no ending that would have pleased everyone. But I will say that it pleased me.
I am content with it.
I am happy with it.
I am at peace with it.
Thank you for the 8 years that you gave us Arrow. You will never be forgotten.
Thank you for the happy ending you gave me.
xo – Erin
